Reflection on My Way to Veganism: Opinion Essay

As a vegan for over 10 years, I have come to develop an in-depth understanding of the positive impacts this diet could have on the future of humanity and of the planet. The environmental impact, the constantly increasing number of people to be fed as well as the antibiotic resistance risk which is amplified by meat consumption are 3 key aspects to take into consideration when talking about the problems of conventional farming.

Multiple studies show that by 2050 the global food demand will increase by 60%. This demand could be answered by organic agriculture under the circumstances where meat production and food waste are reduced. In order to feed over 9 billion people, governments should encourage populations to move towards a more plant-based diet. Meat consumption should be reduced from 38% in the present to 11%. One might wonder if lowering the rate of meat consumption is possible since 1960 it grows by 3% per year. It is important to note that in the present, 26% of earth’s lands and 27% of global fresh water are used for meat and dairy production, while these make only 18% of what humans eat. If people would eat what they feed to animals, an extra 3.5 billion people could be nourished. Cows, for example, convert only 3% of what they eat into beef, while 97% is lost, therefore for 1kg of beef 25kg of grains are needed and 15.000L of water.

Replacing animal proteins with plant-based proteins would also mean reducing the number of feed crops and increasing the number of food crops. As evidence, 100 kg of beef protein (500 kg of beef) needs about 0.6 ha cropland, feeding crops included, while 10 kg of plant-based protein from pulses only needs 0.25 ha. The effects of dietary changes on human health and life expectancy have become a rising concern of public health, who was initially preoccupied with obesity. There is some evidence that consumption of beef and pork increases the risk of intestinal cancer while lowering the amount of fatty meat consumed decreases the risk of coronary heart disease. Public health has also revised the dietary recommendations given to public health institutions. It is said that a well-balanced vegan diet, more varied and with less calories could save lives and reduce mortality by 20%.

Furthermore, concerns turn towards the high number of antimicrobial drugs used in both meat production and agriculture. They play an important role especially in meat production as they help to avoid diseases and infections. Antimicrobial drugs are antibiotics, antifungal drugs, and antiparasitic drugs. The ability of bacteria to resist the effect of these drugs is called antimicrobial resistance. However, intensive farming uses antibiotics to speed up growth. It is worth noting that antimicrobial drugs used in animal growth and agriculture are the same as the ones that are medically approved and important for humans too. The problem is that agricultural antibiotics drive up the levels of antibiotic resistance creating new superbugs. Bacteria become resistant when antibiotics are given unnecessarily to humans or animals. Humans naturally have bacteria in their gut. Antibiotics kill it, but resistant ones survive and multiply. Drug-resistant diseases are easily passed through direct contact of animals with humans, or by handling or eating raw or undercooked contaminated meat and even by swimming in or drinking contaminated water. The diseases are also passed into the environment through animal excrements, contaminating the soil. According to NHS, a literature review found 72% of 139 papers to find evidence of the link between animal antibiotic consumption and human resistance. Moreover, according to CDC, every year over 400,000 Americans get an antibiotic-resistant disease caused by foodborne bacteria. Antibiotic-resistant illnesses are hard to treat, often requiring hospitalization, and sometimes causing death. We could draw from this that policymakers should revise global regulations to reduce antibiotic use to more appropriate levels.

At the moment, the meat & dairy industry is one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and with the increasing interest in electric vehicles, it could potentially become the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter. Meat & dairy industry is responsible for 14.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions (Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), as much as all the ships, cars and planes produce together. The greenhouse gases emitted are methane, CH4, caused by the enteric fermentation, nitrous oxide, N2O caused by manure and fertilizers and finally, carbon dioxide, CO2 caused by the deforestation needed for their pasture. Meat production can be split into 2 sections: ruminants – cattle, sheep, goat; and mono-gastric – pork and poultry. Ruminants, particularly cattle, has a large share of emissions due to multiple factors. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, they are not effective in converting forage to products. Secondly, this inefficiency leads to deforestation to create large grazing areas. Deforestation has a high impact on the CO2 cycle, decreasing Earth’s capacity to capture carbon as well as on the quality of the land. Moreover, the release of CO2 gases warms the planet, threatening global warming. Ruminants also constitute the largest source of CH4 created by bugs in their digestive system. According to The Economist, by 2050, 60% more food will be needed to feed the population, and with the current pace of food production food created gas emissions could increase by 50%. However, if everyone would go vegan by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions would decrease by 3 quarters. Not only health and environment would benefit from the potential dietary changes but also the global economy. Currently, a lot of money is spent on treating diseases associated with one’s diet such as cancer, diabetes and heart diseases like coronary heart disease or stroke. Reportedly, 1 trillion US dollars used in present on public health could be saved by 2050 if people would go vegan.

While all factors ale pleading towards a vegan future, meat lovers are not to be forgotten. Plant-based meat factories have been developing globally. Quorn, Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods or The Vegetarian Butcher are only a few to name. They all have the same mission: to provide the population with high-quality products and the same ethical motivations: reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve human health and animal welfare. In the present on Earth, there are over 25 billion animals for the meat & dairy industry. Globally, every 1 and a half years we kill more animals than people have lived in 200 000 years of history. Intensive farming is a regular practice, animals being forced fed and grown in very small places very closed to each other, not being able to develop their normal social structure. In order to become vegans by 2050 people need strong motivation. Governments should look into what motivates people to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. Psychology studies show that omnivores can be hostile towards vegetarians to ease their guilt and morality of meat consumption. Eating meat is a social norm. Changing one’s diet to a vegetarian diet means to stop using animal products for humans’ pleasure, therefore restricts one’s access to social resources. By finding and giving the right motivations to change diets, governments can shape and predict future attitudes and behaviors.

Becoming a vegetarian represents a change not only in one’s personal life but also in his social life. Even if most vegans and vegetarians say that the change in their diet had a positive impact on their personal or professional life, they also report that this change represented a source of anxiety when it comes to expressing one’s self and a source of conflict with family and friends leading to many questions, stereotyping or even discrimination.

As happy as a vegetarian future might look, there is always a downside of the story as being vegan could not be an option for everyone. Millions of people all around the world are living in food deserts, most of the time being low-income houses. A food desert is an urban area in which it is difficult to have access to affordable, good quality fresh food. The interest in vegan food is growing in the rich world, but for people in a food desert veganism can only be a dream. Considering a completely vegan future is not truly achievable, the concept of veganism should be applied in context. Strengths and obstacles of local food systems should be analysed, land areas need to meet local food demand. The best solution would benefit both the people and the environment. Future sustainable meat consumption would consist of 0-2 servings of poultry eggs or fish per day and 1 serving of beef or pork. A serving would be 70g. Therefore, the average consumption per day per person would be 10g of beef or pork, 46.6g poultry, and eggs.

In conclusion, vegetarianism is a dietary change that would make food production in the future sustainable. In order to feed over 9 billion people, we will need to reduce food waste, improve access to food distribution in particular in food desert areas and also move towards a more plant-based diet. A plant-based world would not only benefit humans and their health but also the environment and the global economy. In contrast to growing animals, a plant-based diet would mean sequestrating CO2 emissions and also saving money from treating diseases associated with one’s diet. We can theoretically picture a vegetarian future, but truly it is in the hands of the governments to encourage this globally. Charles Darwin said ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.’ Humans are made to adapt. We adapt to climate, to social contexts, to cultural change, and also genetically. Adapting to a new diet would mean a huge change in our lives but it only takes the right motivation to do it.